Thanks to Kyle, a guy on my worship team, I have just recently discovered this worship band - the youth band from Hillsong Church in Australia. I have done a few Hillsong songs, but I've been veering away from them recently because they just aren't the style that we're looking for in worship.
Hillsong United is, however. The first CD I heard was Look To You, and immediately I liked it. We have started to do the song "Salvation Is Here" recently and it's been a good song to introduce.
The latest Hillsong United CD is out and without further adieu, here's my review of it, song by song.
Song #1: An Introduction - 10/10
I love how this CD starts out - a minute and a half instrumental that reminds me of Coldplay or U2. It then blends right into song #2.
Song #2: The Time Has Come - 8/10
Again, reminds me of Coldplay's and U2's more upbeat songs. I really like this song - I like the different changes, and the bass player for Hillsong United kicks. Of course, so does the guitarist and the drummer and the...
Song #3: Take It All - 6/10
I think I will like this song better the more I listen to this CD, but to me it seems like a hard song to introduce into worship.
Song #4: From God Above - 7/10
One thing I like about Hillsong United is that their songs musically don't seem to be very formulaic, a problem I find in other worship artists (see Chris Tomlin). This is an interesting song, to say the least. I like it.
Song #5: From The Inside Out - 10/10
My favorite song on this CD, at least so far. I love the words, I love the melody, I love how they sing the "Everlasting your light will shine when all else fails" part as part of each verse, then towards the end it becomes part of the chorus. Brilliant. We are introducing this song this coming Sunday, and I'm excited.
Song #6: Came To The Rescue - 10/10
Song #5 and #6 pack a powerful wallop together. This is one that I'm going to suggest my female worship leaders introduce, I think they'll like it. I love the sound of the guitar on this song, it's killer.
Song #7: A Reprise - 10/10
The organ starts out this reprise, and it sounds great. Then that killer guitar from song #6 comes back. Then quietly the refrain from the last song comes through:
In my life, be lifted high
In my world, be lifted high
In my love, be lifted high
It builds and builds coming to an incredible crescendo with everyone singing and playing loud. I would love for our church to be as responsive as this.
Song #8: None But Jesus - 8/10
The first song on this CD sung by a female leader. It's a very soothing song, and I really like the lyrics. I also like what sounds like an e-bow in the background. I love e-bows. I need to get one of our electric guitarists to get excited about learning how to play one.
Song #9: Selah - 6/10
I like the sound, but it's rather bland.
Song #10: Fire Fall Down - 9/10
A long, long song (almost eleven minutes!) but it's incredible. The music reminds me of one of Delirious' slower songs off of Glo. Do I have to mention again how much I love the guitar work on this CD? This is the kind of stuff I would like to see us move to - we've been doing a little more experimentation like this (Invitation Fountain by The Violet Burning, throwing in some U2 riffs here and there, more dramatic pauses, etc.), but I want us to do more. Of course, this song builds as well into a full out audio arsenal.
Song #11: Revolution - 7/10
It's an interesting song, to say the least. I'm not fond of the chorus - either the lyrics or the melody, but I love the verses. Almost ska-like!
Song #12: Kingdom Come - 8/10
When the song first started, I really wanted to not like it, because it sounded similar to a couple other songs on this CD, notably the first one. But then the chorus hit, and I realized I really liked this song.
Song #13: No One Like You - 5/10
Too repetitive. But I know that on each CD they have a song with repetitive words, so maybe I'm just digging here.
Song #14: Sovereign Hands - 6/10
Sounds a little too much like the main Hillsongs stuff.
Song #15: The Stand - 7/10
This is a long CD. I think my judgment is getting cloudy because of how long this CD is. But this is a solid song.
Song #16: Selah - 7/10
Nice instrumental. Getting woozy.
Song #17: Hallelujah - 8/10
Great way to end this CD. Yes, it's repetitive, but it's better than Our God Reigns off of the new Passion CD. Interestingly, it also contains the words "Our God Reigns". Hmmm.
Well, that's it. A lot of songs, you definitely get your money worth. And I wholeheartedly recommend this CD. It is an incredible worship CD. And you get a DVD with it, which shows you when they did these songs live. Very passionate, very moving. I love it.
2 comments:
I like their sound . Vocally they aren't the best but I find myself listening to them more and liking them. If you go to 722 they played and Dylan Yosick was in the front row (he and his friends from Lee went) and you can see him . He has what looks like a black and white striped shirt on :)
Really? That's cool. I did watch that.
I thought that recording was horrible. They sound much better on their CDs and live DVDs, believe me.
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